Disclaimer: I do not own Castle

Chapter 34

When they we're done laying out the table, Kate went in search of her phone. She needed to call her mom and let her know she'd be staying for dinner at the Rodgers home.

She walked into Rick's bedroom, realizing she may have left her phone there earlier. She stood there scanning her call list to find her mom's number, when two strong, familiar arms made their way around her waist.

"Came in here to find me.?" His voice, a seductive whisper in her ear.

"Actually, I came in here to find this" she said, holding her phone up fir him to see.

"That's too bad he said" pulling her closer to lean entirely against him. And she could feel he was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. The warmth of his chest burning her back. He began kissing her neck and she shut her eyes.

"I really thought you came in here cause you wanted some if this"

He continued kissing her. She was amused by how much he loved kissing her. The man would never take his hands off her if he could, and it gave her butterflies in her stomach. He was worshipping her with his lips and that in itself was so arousing.

"What if I told you it was an ulterior motive"

His hands crept lower down to move sensually over her abdomen and she gasped at the feeling of him, hard through the soft material of his towel

"God Rick... Your mom's... She's... In the next room" she stammered, stuttering because of the feelings he was once again creating in her.

He loosened his hold against her then, "why'd you have to bring up my mom?"

She chuckled, took a deep breath to calm her racing heart, and civilized her thoughts from fantasizing what his hands would do to her if they had moved just a little lower, and then she turned to face him.

And the sight before her was breath taking. Oh how she admired this man and his perfectly toned muscled body. She put her hands on his chest, needing to touch him, to feel the heat of him, and then got up on her toes to kiss his ever delicious lips.

His arms stayed firm around her, holding her close to him. And her fingers couldn't resist touching his hair, still wet from the shower. He smelt amazing, so fresh and enticing and the fact that he was still hard against her didn't help her racing heart one bit.

She pulled away from the kiss "we have got to stop doing this all the time" she chuckled looking up into his blue eyes.

He smiled, "well, it's just so hard to resist touching a woman like you." His hand moved lower down her back until it landed on her rear.

"Rick..." she intended it to sound like a scold, but it came out all breathy and sexy.

He hummed his laughter into her neck and kissed her some more.

"Kate darling, is everything alright? Did you find your phone?" Martha asked from the living room.

Kate immediately pulled away from Rick.
"Yea, I found it, I'll be right out"

She then turned to her boyfriend; the man had a smug smile on his face. "Rick, you are going to behave tonight ok. No inappropriate touching during dinner"

"okay... I could do that, but on one condition..."

"And what's that" she asked, walking to the door now.

"I can touch you however I want when I take you home."

She left the room with a blush on her face.

Rick made his way to the dining table at the same time Kate finished her call with her mom. Dinner was nice, Kate enjoyed being in the company of the Rodgers.
Martha was such a classy elegant woman; anyone who made an acquaintance with her would agree that she has a beautiful personality.

After dinner, Martha hugged Kate goodbye, and told rick to drop her home safely. They we're in the elevator down to the lobby now and rick had his hand placed at the small of her back.

"My mom adores you, you know" Rick stated

Kate looked at him, "really?"

"Yea... She's never been so supportive of the other girlfriends I've had. But then again, you're the only one she ever sat down to have dinner with"

Kate blushed. They we're out of the building now, and walking hand in hand.

A few minutes of comfortable silence passed between them until Kate finally voiced her fears.

"Rick would you have broken up with me?"

Her question was out of the blue. But she needed to know just how bad she was to him.

He exhaled heavily and said, "I can't say I didn't think about it Kate. At least I know that was all I could think of that night when I yelled at you on the sidewalk."

Kate held on tighter to his hand, remembering very clearly everything that happened that night. And afraid that he might still be thinking of leaving her. She was afraid that any minute now, he'd turn to her and say that he was tired of her.

But he reassuringly squeezed her hand back. She stopped then and stepped in front of him to face him.

"Rick, I know I've said this a million times, I promised it to you and then I broke my promise, but now, I'm never making this mistake again.
I promise you Rick; I'll never take you for granted ever again. And I know you'll find it hard to believe me, to trust that that I'll never do something like that again, and I don't blame you, you can take all the time you need. And I'll be right here with you."

she put her arms around his waist and hugged him. Fingers clinging on tight to the fabric of his shirt on his back. The need to have him close to her forever, evident in the way she was holding on to him.

And he held her with the same need. Kissing the top of her head before saying,
"your right Kate, it is going to take me time to trust you again... Because I have to admit, what you did left a nasty scar on me. But it's getting better now that we're here." he paused then, choosing his next words carefully,

"I'm not giving up. I'm in this for the long haul if you are."

she kissed his chest then and looked up at him with a small smile, "thank you"

"Always" he said, and leaned down to kiss her softly.

They had reached her front door step now and were kissing like two lovers who'd reunited after a war.
Kate on the higher step, and him a step lower. Her arms around his neck in a tight grip, his around her waist, one moving dangerously closer to the side of her breast, and the other on the curve of her back.

The kiss grew more and more passionate, and when she pulled away to breathe and let her forehead rest against his. The height difference, their own and the stairs, allowing for her to be an inch taller than him.

"What did I tell you about us needing to control how far we go everything we kiss?"

"What did I tell you about my condition for keeping my hands to myself at dinner"

She chuckled and he pulled her in for another breath taking kiss.
When it was time to say goodbye, she said "so, I'll see you tomorrow morning then?"

He looked down and laughed,
"I'm not allowed on the campus until next week Kate"

And then she remembered. Right, he was suspended for a week because of her.
"I'm... Rick I'm sorry"

"Kate, It's alright, okay... How about I take you out for a movie tomorrow night?"
He took both her hands in his.

"Have you finished writing?" she asked softly, surprising him with her question.

"Not exactly, there's still some left... But we can still go out"

"No. You're going to write tomorrow, and I'm going to come over to practice the guitar while you write. I'll keep you company. And then if you feel you've written enough, we'll watch a movie together at your place. How does that sound?"

He was smiling up at her.
"Sounds good"

He lifted her hands to his lips then and placed a kiss on them and said.

"Why the sudden interest again for the guitar?"

"You sang for me that night and made everything okay. I want to be able to sing for you too. It won't do much to repair the damage I've caused. But I intend on making it up to you in more ways than one. I want to prove to you Rick that you're all I ever want. That I love you to the moon and back"

"you're extraordinary you know that?" He asked.

"I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't be screwing things up so badly if I was"

he laughed, stood up on the same step as her and pulled her to his chest.

"I know it's too soon to think about all of this, but I'm going to make you mine one day Katherine Beckett, and till then, you and I have to meet a few obstacles on the way, but we'll move past them together. I'm never letting you get away."

She smiled into his chest, the sound of his steady heartbeat, music to her ears.
"I love you Rick"
" I love you too Kate, Always."

And as the soft light of the moon shone down upon them and the stars twinkled above, the future the two of them were dreaming up in their heads right now was filled with happiness and love.

They knew there couldn't be anywhere else they'd rather be right now. Being in the arms of someone you love was a feeling that could be compared to no other.

They'd learned from each other what love is about, and knew they'd be together Always, without a doubt.

From Best friends to lovers, their journey would be rough, but they'd be there for each other, no matter what.

The end.

AN: so this is the end of the longest Fanfic I've written. would love to know what you guys think, and whether you'd read more of my stories? :)

Thank you, all of you, for sticking with me right till the end :) all your reviews, follows and favourites meant the world to me. :*

Watershed! OMG! I'm speechless... you guys got anything to say about it... do tell me in a review. :)